Golf swing training apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for training and perfecting a golfer&#39;&#39;s swing. An arcuate shaped rod is mounted atop members which extend upwardly from a flat base. A handle configured in a manner similar to the top end of a golf club shaft is connected by means of a flexible cord to a ring which is slidably mounted to the rod. An elastic line is connected to the cord between the ring and handle and extends upwardly therefrom passing through a plurality of guiding pulleys with the opposite end of the line being secured to a connector adjustably mounted to one of the members. The connector is adjustably movable along the length of one of the members, so as to control the tension in the line. A golfer by standing on the base may grasp the handle which is normally urged at the top end of the rod by the elastic line. The golfer may then swing the handle downwardly along the path of the arcuate shaped rod which is configured and positioned in an empirical relationship with respect to the base.

United States Patent Fitch [54] GOLF SWING TRAINING APPARATUS [72] Inventor: Robert E. Fitch, RR. 1, PO. Box

39, Bloomington, Ind. 47401 22 Filed: Sept. 20, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 181,694

[52] US. Cl. 273/191 R, 272/82 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 21/04, A63b 69/36 [58] Field of Search ..273/l9l, 192, 186; 272/82, 272/83 [56] References Cited UNYIED STATES PATENTS 2,848,234 8/1958 Brandon ..272/83 R X 3,595,583 7/1971 Oppenheimer ..273/l9l R 3,618,942 11/1971 Bates ..272/82 Primary Examiner-George .l. Marlo Attorney-Woodard, Weikart, Emhardt & Naughton [451 Nov. 21, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for training and perfecting a golfers swing. An arcuate shaped rod is mounted atop members which extend upwardly from a flat base. A handle configured in a manner similar to the top end of a golf club shaft is connected by means of a flexible cord to a ring which is slidably mounted to the rod. An elastic line is connected to the cord between the ring and handle and extends upwardly therefrom passing through a plurality of guiding pulleys with the opposite end of the line being secured to a connector adjustably mounted to one of the members. The connector is adjustably movable along the length of one of the members, so as to control the tension in the line. A golfer by standing on the base may grasp the handle which is normally urged at the top end of the rod by the elastic line. The golfer may then swing the handle downwardly along the path of the arcuate shaped rod which is configured and positioned in an empirical relationship with respect to the base.

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ROBERT E. FITCH ATT RNEYS GOLF SWING TRAINING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention is in the fields of exercising devices and golf swing training devices.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various devices have been provided for assisting a golfer in developing a correct stance and swing. Most of these devices restrain different portions of the golfers body by attaching various items to the golfers legs, hips and/or arms. All of the prior art devices provide an artificial environment thereby reducing the capability of the device. In addition, the prior art devices are not based upon proven movements. The apparatus disclosed herein does not require attachment of anything to the golfer. The golf swing path of the apparatus is based uponmovements which have been proven by professional golfers. The apparatus disclosed herein is relatively less complex and is inexpensive to manufacture as compared with the prior art devices. Some prior art devices allow the golfer to freely swing the club through an arc. These arcs have not been designed in accordance with a proven standard golf swing arc and as a result, may develop an undesirable golf swing. In addition, means are not provided in any of the prior art devices for controlling the amount of force required to swing the club through the arc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION from the bottom end portion r'earwardly and upwardly to the top end portion and lying in a plan obliquely intersecting horizontal; a connector mounted to and slidable along the rod; a grip handle connected to the connector and having sufficient length to be grasped by both of a persons hands; and, elastic resistance means mounted to the support and connected to the connector and to the handle normally urging the handle to the top end position but yieldable for allowing a quick swinging movement of the handle along therod from the top end portion to the bottom end portion.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a new and improved exercising device.

It is a further object to the present invention to provide a new and improved golf swing training apparatus.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a golf swing training apparatus which provides a golf swing path empirically derived from proven golf swings.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view of the apparatus incorporating the present invention shown in use by a golfer.

FIG. 2 is the same view as FIG. 1 only showing the grip handle located at a lower position.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of arrows 4-4.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the portion of the apparatus enclosed in circle 5' of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the golf swing path of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION or THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT device, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a golfer 10 practicing or developing his golf a swing using apparatus 11 incorporating the present invention. Apparatus 11 has a flat base 12 which may be made from a material such as three-quarter inch thick plywood. While a variety of different sized and configured'base's may be utilized, excellent results have been obtained by using a base approximately 42 inches in length and 36 inches in width. Two arcuate shaped rods 13 and 14' are mounted atopa plurality of upwardly extending members 15, l6, 17, 18 and 19. Members 15 through 19 may be made from threequarter inch diametered conduit with the bottom ends of the members being bent so as to be parallel with the top surface of base 12. Fastening devices 20 secure the bottom ends of the members to base 12. Members 18 and 19 (FIG. 4) are arranged inan inverted V-shape. Member 18 has a length slightly greater than member 19 although the present invention contemplates and includes members having a variety of lengths. Member 17 extends upwardly having a top end positioned outwardly of and adjacent the top end of member 19. A standard bolt 21 and nut combination is used to secure members 17, 18 and 19 to rod 14. The bolt extends through the top end of members 17 through 19 and also through pipe 14.

Rod 14 has an outside diameter of approximately one-half inches and may be produced from a material such as metal. Rod 13 has an outside diameter of approximately three-quarters of an inch and is made from a material such as plastic. Rod 13 is hollow so as to receive the end of a U-shaped rod 20. The opposite end of rod 20 fits around pipe 14. Bolt 21 extends through rods 14 and 20 as well as members 17 through 19. In addition, bolt 22 extends through rods 13 and 20 and is secured thereto by a conventional hexagonally shaped nut. In the preferred embodiment, the length of member 17 is approximately 34 5e inches.

Members 15 and 16 (FIG. 3) also form an inverted V-shape each having top ends connected to rod 14. A conventional bolt 23 extends through the top end of member 16 and through member 15 and rod 14 being secured thereto by a conventional hexagonally shaped nut. In the preferred embodiment, member 15 has a length from base 12 to bolt 23 of approximately 48 inches whereas member 16 has a length of 46 Y4 inches.

A second U-shaped rod 24 identical to rod 20 ex-' tends into rod 13 on one end while receiving rod 14 in its other end. A pulley assembly 25 is mounted to the top ends 30 and 31 of rods 14 and 13. Pulley assembly 25 (FIG. has a pair of spaced apart plates 26 and 27 positioned on the opposite sides of rods 13 and 14 with a pulley wheel 32 rotatably mounted therebetween. Bolt 28 extends through plates 26 and 27 and also through rods 14 and 24 and is secured thereto by a conventional hexagonally shaped nut. A second bolt 29 extends through plate 26 and 27 and rods 13 and 24 also being secured thereto by a conventional hexagonally shaped nut. Two other pulleys 33 and 34 are rotatably mounted respectively to rod 14 and the top end of member 15. i

An elastic flexible line or band 35 (FIG. 3) has its bottom end fastened to connector 36 mounted to member 15. Line 35 extends upwardly through pulleys 34, 33 and 25 and is tied or secured by other suitable means to a flexible non-elastic cord means 37 (FIG. 5). The connector 36 which receives the lower proximal end of line 35 may take a variety of different configurations. For example, connector 36 may be a cylinder which is adjustably movable along the length of member being provided with a small hook 38 for fixing line 35 thereto. Connector 36 may be fixed in place by means such as set screws or may be held in place by positioning line 35 between member 15 and the inside surface of the connector cylinder. Connector 36 must be slidable to different positions along the length of member 15 so as to control the tension in line 35. Line 35 is slidably received and supported between its ends by pulleys 34, 33 and 25. The line must be elastically flexible and should be relatively thick so as to prevent breakage of the line as it is stretched. Excellent results have been obtained by producing line 35 from a solid piece of rubber having a diameter of approximately one-quarter inch.

The flexible non-elastic cord means 37 (FIG. 5) connects handle 45 and ring 46 together and also to the elastic line 35. The cord means includes a pair of pivot plates 41 (only one shown in FIG. 5) secured. together by fastening devices 42 and a cord 39 received between the pivot plates forming-a loop 40 receiving the top distal end of line 35; The opposite ends of unstretchable cord 39 are secured respectively to ring connector 46 and handle 45. Cord 39 may be a wire cable covered with a plastic insulation. The cord extends from ring 46 through plates 41 forming loop 40 and back through the plates to the handle. Only one plate 41 is shown in FIG. 5; however, it is understood that a pair of plates sandwich the cord and are secured together by fastening devices 42. Similar plates are utilized to form loops 43 and 44 in the opposite ends of the cord. Ring 46 has an inside diameter greater than rod 13 so as to allow the ring to slide freely on the rod. Handle 45 has a sufficient length so as to be grasped simultaneously by both of the golfers hands. Handle 45 is shaped similar to the top end of a golf club shaft thereby allowing a golfer utilizing the apparatus to grip the handle in a manner identical to that used when gripping a standard golf club shaft. A ball shaped stop 46 is threaded on line 35 preventing the top distal end of the line from disengaging pulley 25 when the handle and ring are positioned at the top end of rod 13. A second stop 47 (FIG. I) is provided at the lower end of rods 14 and 13, so as to limit the movement of the ring connector to the right as viewed in FIG. 1. Stop 47 is a plastic or rubber column which is fixedly attached to rods 13 and 14 by conventional fastening devices, such as screws.

The configuration and positioning of rod 13 has been empirically derived by filming 35 touring professional golfers and then by analyzing the films to determine the correct golf swing path. It has been determined that the golf swing paths of the different touring professional golfers are very similar. It will be noted that rod 13 and 14 are arcuate shaped with the top end portion 48 (FIG. I) and bottom end portion 49 of rod 13 being shown in FIG. 1. Rod 13 dips slightly downward at its lowest portion (undistinguishable in FIG. 1) 50 adjacent bottom end portion 49 and then rearwardlyand upwardly to the top end portion 48. As shown in FIG. 4, rod 13 lies in a plane which obliquely intercepts the horizontal at angle 50'. It has been determined from the previously mentioned empirical study, that the plane of rod 13 should be at an approximate angle 50' of 68 with respect to the horizontal with the rod tilted towards the facing golfer. Rod 13 is generally horizontal at its lowest portion 50 (FIG. 1) and extends in a continuous curve upwardly therefrom past the vertical. Rod 13 also extends forwardly and slightly upwardly from the lowest position 50 to the lower end portion 49. Rod 13 is approximately 24 inches above the flat base 12 at its lowest position 50, with the top end portion 48 being positioned approximately 72 inches above base 12. FIG. 6'is a schematic representation of the golf swing path derived from the empirical study and to which rod 13 is configured. Rod 13 is shown in FIG. 6 with the lower portion designated by arrow 49 and the upper portion designated by arrow 48. The lowest portion of rod 13 is designated by item number 50. For purposes of analysis, various chords have been drawn along the length of rod 13. A straight diagonal line 83 connecting lower end portion 49 with the upper end portion 48 is actually the chord of the rod and has approximate length of 67 inches. Following is a table of the various lengths and angles which describe the rod.

TABLE Angle Degree Length (inches) 6! S0 l8 le 67 l8 24 iii 71 I3 I I 24 it 75 13 ll V4 32 As an example of the interpretation of the above ta- In order to operate the apparatus, the golfer stands on base 12 facing the tilted rods 13 and 14. Rod 14 is fixedly mounted atop the members and extends along and beneath rod 13 which is mounted thereto. The golfer then grasps handle 45 as shown in FIG. 1 and pulls downwardly to the right as shown in FIG. 2 in a manner identical to that displayed when swinging a golf club. The elastic stretchable line will provide resistance so as to normally urge the handle and the ring to the top portion of rod 13 with the line being sufficiently yieldable for allowing a quick swinging movement of the handle to the bottom end of rod 13. The flexible means connecting the handle and ring to the elastic line will compensate for golfers having varied heights. That is, the cord is sufficiently flexible so as to bend depending upon how handle 45 is gripped. As shown in FIG. 2, the portion of the cord from the ring slidable on rod 13 to the pivot plate is perpendicular to the rod and retains this perpendicularity throughout the swinging stroke.

Rod 13 may be produced from a variety of materials;

however, best results have been obtained by mounting one-half inch diametered metal conduit within a three-quarter inch diametered plastic tube. Thus, as the ring slides the length of the plastic tube, the sliding action of the ring is noiseless. Many variations are contemplated and included in the present invention to control the tension of elastic band 35. For example, the diameter of the band may be increased so as to increase the tension exerted by the band on the gripping handle. In one embodiment of the present invention, band 35 was produced from surgical hose.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come with the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.

sons hands; and, elastic resistance means mounted to said support and connected to said connector and said handle normally urging said handle to said top endportion but yieldable for allowing a quick swinging movement of said handle along a path of said rod from said top end portion to said bottom end portion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said plane is at an approximate angle of 68 with respect to horizontal; and,

said rod is generally horizontal at its lowest position and extends rearwardly in a continuous curve upwardly therefrom past vertical.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein:

said rod extends forwardly and slightly upwardly from said lowest position.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said arcuate shaped rod has an outside diameter;

and,

said connector is a ring receiving said rod and having an inside diameter larger than said rod outside diameter.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 and further comprising:

flexible non-elastic cord means connecting said handle and said ring together and to said elastic means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein:

said cord means includes a pivot plate and a cord fixedly connected together, said cord extends through said plate forming a loop connected to said elastic means, said cord has an end portion connected to said ring and an opposite end portion connected to said handle.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

said elastic means is an elastically stretchable thick line having a proximal end connected to said support and a distal end connected between said handle and said connector.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 and further comprising:

pulley means mounted on said support and slidably receiving and supporting said line between said proximal end and said distal end.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein:

said support includes a flat base and a plurality of upwardly projecting members fixedly mounted thereon; and further comprising:

a second rod fixedly mounted atop said members and extending along and beneath said first rod, said first rod is mounted to said second rod;

' connecting means mounted to one of said members and having said proximal end of said line connected thereto, said connecting means being adjustably positionable along the length of said member to control tension in said line;

first stop means mounted to said distal end of said line preventing passage of said distal end through said pulley means; and,

second stop means mounted to said support adjacent said bottom end portion of said first rod limiting movement of said connector.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein:

said first rod is approximately 24 inches above said base at its lowest position with said top end portion positioned approximately 72 inches above said base, said first rod has an approximate chord length of 67 inches. 

1. A golf swing training apparatus comprising: a support; an arcuate shaped rod with a top end portion and a bottom end portion mounted to said support, said rod extending from said bottom end portion rearwardly and upwardly to said top portion and lying in a plane obliquely intersecting horizontal; a connector mounted to and slidable along said rod; a grip handle connected to said connector and having sufficient length to be grasped by both of a person''s hands; and, elastic resistance means mounted to said support and connected to said connector and said handle normally urging said handle to said top end portion but yieldable for allowing a quick swinging movement of said handle along a path of said rod from said top end portion to said bottom end portion.
 1. A golf swing training apparatus comprising: a support; an arcuate shaped rod with a top end portion and a bottom end portion mounted to said support, said rod extending from said bottom end portion rearwardly and upwardly to said top portion and lying in a plane obliquely intersecting horizontal; a connector mounted to and slidable along said rod; a grip handle connected to said connector and having sufficient length to be grasped by both of a person''s hands; and, elastic resistance means mounted to said support and connected to said connector and said handle normally urging said handle to said top end portion but yieldable for allowing a quick swinging movement of said handle along a path of said rod from said top end portion to said bottom end portion.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said plane is at an approximate angle of 68* with respect to horizontal; and, said rod is generally horizontal at its lowest position and extends rearwardly in a continuous curve upwardly therefrom past vertical.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein: said rod extends forwardly and slightly upwardly from said lowest position.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said arcuate shaped rod has an outside diameter; and, said connector is a ring receiving said rod and having an inside diameter larger than said rod outside diameter.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 and further comprising: flexible non-elastic cord means connecting said handle and said ring together and to said elastic means.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein: said cord means includes a pivot plate and a cord fixedly connected together, said cord extends through said plate forming a loop connected to said elastic means, said cord has an end portion connected to said ring and an opposite end portion connected to said handle.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said elastic means is an elastically stretchable thick line having a proximal end connected to said support and a distal end connected between said handle and said connector.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 and further comprising: pulley means mounted on said support and slidably receiving and supporting said line between said proximal end and said distal end.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein: said support includes a flat base and a plurality of upwardly projecting members fixedly mounted thereon; and further comprising: a second rod fixedly mounted atop said members and extending along and beneath said first rod, said first rod is mounted to said second rod; connecting means mounted to one of said members and having said proximal end of said line connected thereto, said connecting means being adjustably positionable along the length of said member to control tension in said line; first stop means mounted to said distal end of said line preventing passage of said distal end through said pulley means; and, second stop means mounted to said support adjacent said bottom end portion of said first rod limiting movement of said connectOr. 